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This is good to hear. At least if we get rejected we'll know that the goalpost is still in the same general location, even if the competition makes it harder to reach.

How do you weigh references when reviewing an application?

Has there ever been an application that was accepted on the basis of a clever stunt or some other cunning?

Actually competition hasn't made it harder. We still accept about the same proportion of applicants as we always have.

References count for a lot if they're unequivocal and from people we respect, and hardly at all otherwise.

People try lots of stunts, but I don't think we've ever had our opinion influenced positively by one. Negatively, yes.

But by stopping what you were doing to click that link, didn't you kind of prove his point? That it's more than the application, it's about getting noticed.

But I didn't notice who wrote it.

Decided to wait for next round a few days ago, reading this makes me feel a little better :)